Brač (pronounced[ˈbɾaːtʃ]; LatinBretia, Brattia;Italian: Brazza; German: Bratz;) is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 km², making it the third largest island in the Adriatic, and thus the largest in Dalmatia. Its tallest peak, Vidova Gora,
or Mount St. Vid, stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point
in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 13,000, living in
numerous little towns, ranging from the 'main town' Supetar, with more than 3,500 inhabitants, to Novo Selo, where only a dozen people live.

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Archeological findings date the existence of human communities on the island back to the palaeolithic (in the Kopačina cave between Supetar and Donji Humac). Nevertheless, there are no traces of human habitation from the neolithic. In the Bronze Age and Iron Age, Illyrian tribes populated the inner parts of the island. Numerous villages existed at that time (but none of them survived).

In the 4th century BC
Greek colonization spread over many Adriatic islands and along the
shore, but none of them on Brač. Nevertheless, Greeks visited the
island and also traded with the Illyric tribes; Greek artifacts were found in the bay of Vičja near Ložišća. Brač lay on the crossroads of several trade routes from Salona (today Solin) to Issa (today Vis) and the Po River.

In the year 9 AD, the Romans finally conquered Dalmatia after long fights against the native tribes. Salona
became the capital of the new province and, probably because of its
proximity to Salona, no bigger villages or towns were founded on the
island. Signs of Roman habitation can be found all over the islands,
but they usually remain single Roman villas, cisterns, and especially early quarries between Škrip and Splitska. Splitska also became the most important harbour to carry stone to Salona and the whole of Dalmatia. Diocletian's Palace, which later became the seed of close by Split, was largely built with limestone that was quarried on Brac. (Hogan, 2007) Also agriculture, especially wine and olives, began in the same era.

After the destruction of Salona by Avar and Slavic tribes, Brač first became a refuge for many denizens of the shore. Tradition has it that Škrip was founded by refugee Salonans, but the town is actually much older than that. In the first half of the 7th centurz the Serbs of Pagania took over the island.

From 1268 to 1357AD the island recognized the supremacy of the Republic of Venice,
and after that they bowed to the Kingdom of Hungary. In the summer of
1390, together with the whole region, they accepted the rule of the Bosnian King TvrtkoKotromanić,
who died the next year. Soon after his death, Hungary claimed the
island again. In this whole period, they kept their basic autonomy and
old structures - the island was never rich or strategically interesting
enough to justify serious intervention. Local nobility administered and
ruled Brač and the seat of the council was Nerežišća in the island's center. The leader was selected from the noble families. Only in 1420 did the Venetian Republic reclaim the island, finally sending someone to lead the island.

Venice ruled for more than four centuries, until 1797, when the Habsburg Monarchy
annexed most of its territory in a deal with Napoleonic France. The
official language was Latin. During this time, the Bosnian realm fell
to the Ottoman Empire
and many refugees settled on the islands, especially on Brač. Many
towns were founded in that time and the population began moving from
the interior of the island to its coast: to Bol, Milna, Postira,
Povlja, Pučišća, Splitska, Sumartin, Supetar i Sutivan.

The population of the island drastically decreased in the beginning of the 20th century due to heavy emigration, mostly to Latin America, especially Argentina and Chile, and to New Zealand and Australia.
The emigration continued during the whole century, only later
generations preferring to move to European countries, especially Germany.

Povlja in the evening

In 1941 Italian forces occupied the island. In the mountainous regions of the island, native rebels fought a quite effective guerilla war, but the occupiers answered harshly with arrests and executions. After the Italian capitulation in 1943, German
troops occupied the island in June 1944, but in July they were defeated
and the island was freed. As part of Croatia it became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until Croatia gained its independence in 1991, receiving recognition in 1992. The Croatian War of Independence
was barely fought on the island (there was a brief bombing of Milna),
but the aftermath of the war, especially the loss in tourism, was
disastrous for the island. Only now is the island regenerating from the
decade-long drainage of its most important revenue.